Ping An spent a comfortable evening at home.
Although there was no bed, Ping An felt very comfortable and relaxed by chatting all night with Su Tang, who was lying on her own bed, through the half-open door.
Undeniably, this night of conversation officially narrowed the distance between Su Tang and Ping An. Ping An gave Su Tang a comprehensive self-introduction. Su Tang showed Ping An her skills in handling official documents. Originally, Su Tang expected Ping An to praise her skills with great admiration, as if she had discovered a treasure. But Ping An just gave an impatient "oh" and then changed the subject, chatting about other things with her.
"That Liu Juan, who was burned to death, I always feel she's strange!" Su Tang casually recounted the events of that night to her master in detail. She recalled, "When I was captured, Liu Juan was already in the cage. Strangely, Liu Juan in the cage at that time not only had her hands unbound but was also holding a mobile phone! After I was thrown into the cage, Gao Min only then ordered someone to tie her hands too! They didn't find the phone Liu Juan was carrying. After he finished all this, he ordered people to cut off the signal, as if he knew my father and you were coming. At first, I thought, why didn't Liu Juan call the police? Later, I realized the signal was blocked. Also, from beginning to end, she didn't say half a word to me. Why did Gao Min say in front of you that Liu Juan was going to secretly let me go? Was it to remind me before I was caught? But he shouldn't have used the word 'let'……. Master, Master, are you asleep? Oh my, how could you fall asleep! Talk to me about the case, I can help! Master! You're a pig…."
Ping An didn't stay home for long. Early the next morning, after saying goodbye to his family, he packed a few changes of clothes and, with Mai Mang and Hei Dou, left the neighborhood.
"Don't worry, at least you don't have to worry about your master being wanted by the police! Look, isn't he going on a mission?" An Jing comforted Su Tang. "Our mission today is also very important. Your room has been tidied up, and we need to get someone to paint it and buy you some new furniture, as well as some new clothes."
"You guys go shopping! I have to go to work!" Lin Dang said after watching Ping An leave, slung her backpack over her shoulder, and also left home.
"Let's go too. Let's go see my training class first and see if you're interested in wrestling!" An Jing teased.
Inside the Dehe vegetable market, Ping An, wearing a duck-billed cap, with two little followers behind him, quietly walked through the crowd. They wound their way to the warehouse. Since the murder occurred here, the warehouse had been temporarily sealed off, and a police car was parked at the entrance.
"Hey, uh, do you two have your police IDs with you?" Ping An stopped and said to the two followers behind him.
"We do, Teacher Ping. What do you want to do?" Mai Mang, the older one, asked cautiously.
"Too many people in the police force know me, so it's not convenient for me to go in. You two find a way to get in now, and on the road from the cage in the flour warehouse to the point where the body was dumped and burned, search carefully. See if there's a mobile phone!" Ping An whispered in a low voice. "I guess the police have already looked, but they wouldn't have been too thorough, so you need to search carefully."
It turned out that Ping An had taken to heart everything Su Tang had told him the previous night, and the part about the mobile phone had made him suspicious. So, he had contacted Xiang Wanfeng early in the morning and confirmed that there were no remains of a mobile phone among the charred bodies, which gave him hope that he might find it.
Mai Mang and Hei Dou were both excellent investigators in the National Security team, personally trained by Xiang Wanfeng when he was the deputy director of the National Security Bureau of Hechuan City. This time, they were undertaking this special mission with the resolve to protect Teacher Ping An even at the cost of their lives. However, Ping An's first request was surprisingly… easy to handle.
They were all people's policemen, but the National Security agency seemed to have a higher status and was more mysterious.
Mai Mang and Hei Dou, each holding a badge, successfully entered the warehouse.
Time quickly passed until noon. Ping An, hiding behind the meat stall, had successfully acquired the smell of "meat" all over him. The two "followers" had been inside for three hours. Just as Ping An was losing patience, Mai Mang and Hei Dou finally emerged from the warehouse.
"Teacher Ping, there really was a mobile phone. It was hidden under the cage. Everyone thought the cage was fixed, but it turned out to be movable," Mai Mang handed a mobile phone to Ping An.
"There really is one. It seems good luck has finally turned my way!" Ping An took the phone with a smile.
Less than 3 kilometers away from the Dehe vegetable market, in the Donghai Commercial Building, Su Tang was leisurely strolling, arm in arm with An Jing. Behind them, Gao Da, although freed from the "fate" of collecting scrap, had become a nanny. In just one hour, his hands were already full of items.
Previously, given Su Tang's family circumstances, they would not have easily visited places like Donghai Commercial, but it was different when she followed An Jing. Just now, after enthusiastically buying three sets of autumn and winter clothes for Su Tang on the fourth floor, they went up to the sixth floor to look at furniture for her.
"A princess bed like this would actually suit you very well!" An Jing said, looking at a luxurious and somewhat outrageous princess bed with sparkling eyes.
Su Tang, who had been sensible from a young age, was accustomed to checking prices first when shopping. She had been "defeated" by An Jing's shopping style of not looking at prices but at her interests this morning. She secretly glanced at the price of the bed and was instantly frightened by the four zeros after the "1."
"Auntie, I don't like such flashy beds. To be honest, I used to sleep in a wardrobe at home, and I'm used to sleeping on a hard bed," Su Tang said frankly.
"Then what should we do? Your master specifically gave me 50,000 yuan yesterday to buy you furniture. You're different from Lin Dang. Lin Dang is a guest. Although in the future, well! She's still a guest now. You're the host now, so we can't buy you a common hard bed!" An Jing said with difficulty.
"Auntie, can I choose myself?" Su Tang suddenly asked.
"Of course. Which one do you like?" An Jing asked.
"Well, what I like isn't on this floor, it's on the floor above!" Su Tang said mischievously.
"The floor above is the renovation materials area? Isn't the paint already done? Then what about you?" An Jing asked doubtfully.
"Mhmm, I've always thought that if I had the conditions to renovate my own room, I would definitely do it myself!" Su Tang said with a smile. "Auntie, I forgot to tell you, I was raised by my maternal grandfather, and my maternal grandfather was a carpenter!"
In Hu County, at a hot spring resort, Gao Xiaofei lifted the towel covering his face and exclaimed, "Hot!" Then, he comfortably shifted his position, preparing to sleep for a while longer.
"Hurry up and come out, or you'll be cooked like a pig if it's too hot!" Mei Qian, wearing pajamas and holding a mobile phone, stood by the edge of the hot spring and said, "Quick, it's Director Yan on the phone!"
"Director Yan! This is Gao Xiaofei, I'm in Hu County! Standing by to arrest Ping An!" Gao Xiaofei sat up straight and said sternly.
"Still Hu County! I think you've gone to Muddled County! Do you know Ping An appeared at the Dehe vegetable market just now?" Yan Qing yelled on the phone with a strained voice. "I've been out for a month, and now everything is wrong!"
"But, Group Leader Xiang, he!..." Gao Xiaofei said.
"Are you a pig's brain? You still can't see that this Xiang fellow has a problem?" Yan Qing roared.
Indeed, he always felt that the case was getting more and more wrong. Could it be?
"Director Yan! Do you know something?" Gao Xiaofei asked softly, not daring to be rash.
"Get back here, and I'll tell you slowly," Yan Qing said. "The most urgent thing is, if you still care about Ping An being your friend, then arrest him for me. Let him run around and cause trouble everywhere. It's a miracle he's not dead yet; his father's spirit must be protecting him! He doesn't even know he's being used!"
When Gao Xiaofei and Mei Qian returned to the Municipal Bureau, they happened to catch the tail end of the "mobilization meeting." Without time to report, they joined the ranks and heard Xiang Wanfeng shout "Action!" Immediately, hundreds of armed police officers in the courtyard quickly moved out.
"Group Leader Xiang! What is this?" Gao Xiaofei caught up with Xiang Wanfeng, who was rushing to get into a car.
"You two are back? Good. We just received intelligence that Ping An has returned. You two lead your teams quickly. This time, you must bring Ping An back!" Xiang Wanfeng said.
"Group Leader Xiang, it's not necessary, is it? You and I both know clearly that Ping An is not the murderer of Chen Nairong!" Mei Qian stepped forward to argue.
"Execute the mission immediately! The Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government attach great importance to this operation, and Mayor Wang is personally overseeing it! You two need to think about your own situation and raise your political awareness!" Xiang Wanfeng said a few words and then hurried away.
"What should we do, Old Gao? With this setup, could it be that Ping An has been caught in someone's trap again?" Mei Qian asked anxiously.
"Let's go find Director Yan first and see what he says!" Gao Xiaofei said helplessly.
In Yan Qing's office, Yan Qing, who was always poker-faced, was sitting in his chair, losing his temper. "Everyone knows Ping An is my man. This is a slap in my face!" Yan Qing said, slapping the table. "They've framed Ping An repeatedly, always trying to use the flimsy relationship between Ping An and Chen Nairong! They even blamed Su Xia's sacrifice on Ping An. They're looking for a scapegoat! You two get out there quickly, make sure to find Ping An first, and then take him to a safe place. I'll handle the rest."
Hearing Yan Qing's somewhat irregular arrangement, Gao Xiaofei agreed without hesitation and left the office with Mei Qian.
A city-wide manhunt!
Where did the hunted Ping An go?
At the Hegou Expressway exit in Hechuan City, a gray old Jetta was stopped by heavily armed special police.
"Hello, please cooperate with the inspection!" the special police officer said to the driver.
"Squad leader, thank you for your hard work! We are from the National Security Bureau and are carrying out an escort mission." Mai Mang took out his work ID and handed it to the special police officer.
"Can you tell us the content of your mission?" the leading special police officer asked after verifying Mai Mang's identity with an electronic device, after considerable thought.
"The mission content is a confidential operation!" Mai Mang replied.
"..." The special police officer.
The special police officer waved his hand and let the car go.
The "criminal suspect" being escorted in the car was naturally Ping An. After obtaining Liu Juan's mobile phone, he wanted to leave Hechuan City immediately. However, with the city-wide search, it was difficult for him to get out of the city. Fortunately, with Mai Mang and Hei Dou's identities, they were able to leave the city smoothly. At this moment, they were heading to Liu Juan's hometown—Huang County, Fenshui City, Hedong Province.
The grand manhunt proceeded with great fanfare for three days. During these three days, Ping An seemed to have vanished from the city. Although Ping An was not found, the achievements of this manhunt were undeniable—Gu Naide, Gao Min's most capable subordinate, nicknamed "Milk Mushroom," was successfully apprehended. After an intensive interrogation by Gao Xiaofei, he confessed to two methods of drug transactions on "D-day"—Gao Min would randomly select a live streaming software, then send the "room number" to drug dealers from various regions participating in the transaction, and finally invite the drug dealers to bid and purchase through "live streaming sales." Each order was for 100 kilograms, and after each successful bid, Gao Min would immediately switch to another live streaming software and resend the "room number"….
However, according to Gu Naide, several specific transaction methods were designed, and on that day, no one knew which one would be used.
"One order for every 100 kilograms. After a successful bid, the winning drug dealer would first pay ten percent of the deposit, and then continue the 'live streaming sales' until all 700 kilograms of drugs were sold. Finally, the drugs would be disguised as flour and sent out!" At the case analysis meeting, Gao Xiaofei detailed the specifics and content of this drug transaction. Although "Milk Mushroom" confessed a lot, he was unaware of some key details, such as which live streaming software would be used for the broadcast? How would they set up surveillance? There are countless mobile apps with live streaming sales functions now, making monitoring almost impossible. And using flour to transport drugs out is even more clever! Because Hechuan City itself is a major grain-producing city with numerous flour mills, as many as 23 branded ones. Moreover, nearly 800 tons of flour are transported out of the city every day. Should they check it bag by bag?
"We don't even know which flour mill's flour Gao Min used as a cover! Although we found something at the Dehe market before, the market staff replied that the flour in Gao Min's shop came from all over the city, so it's difficult to know where the drugs would be hidden," Gao Xiaofei said.
Hedong Province, in Liu Juan's hometown, Ping An was actively conducting interviews.
In the past few days, he first went to Gao Min's hometown in Hexi Province and discovered through investigations that this cold-blooded killer was a former special forces soldier and had also served as a police officer in Hechuan City for one year. This fact of him being a police officer was not even mentioned in the Municipal Bureau's intelligence.
With the investigation into Gao Min yielding some small progress, Ping An was full of confidence in his visit to Liu Juan's hometown.
"Liu Juan and her older sister Liu Qiao were the most beautiful girls in our village. Later, her sister died in a car accident, and Liu Juan hasn't been back in recent years," an elderly woman in the village said of Liu Juan. "Both sisters were orphans. The older sister dropped out of school early and went to Hechuan City in Shanhe Province to earn money to take care of Liu Juan and support her through university…"
"What kind of job was Liu Qiao working at outside, and how did she die in a car accident? When did it happen?" Ping An asked curiously.
"The car accident happened about seven or eight years ago? It is said that she was always selling wine in a bar. Oh, one year she came back to pay respects to their parents. Since I used to take care of the sisters, Qiao'er even gave me a bottle of wine." The old woman said.
"Is that bottle of wine still there?" Ping An asked tentatively.
"It's long gone!" the old woman said with a smile. "But the wine bottle was quite beautiful, so I kept it to put flowers in!"
"Where is it?" Ping An asked.
"At home, come, I'll show you," the old woman pointed to her own yard.
It was an ordinary farmhouse yard. On the table in the main room, a bottle of XO wine was filled with a bunch of artificial flowers.
Ping An picked up the wine bottle and took a look, his eyes almost popping out.
This was the special supply wine from Ren Liu's bar! The name of the bar was even on the bottle. No wonder Ren Liu was involved in this mess.
Time rewinded to the night he sneaked into the bar. After the Monk took Ping An to a secluded spot, he suddenly knelt down—"Please, Reporter Ping An, save my Brother Liu! Everything he's experiencing today is because he was forced!" the Monk cried. "Several years ago, Brother Liu took a fancy to a bar girl named Julie. After a lot of persuasion and coercion, she became Brother Liu's woman. Brother Liu treated that woman extremely well, giving her money and anything she wanted. This woman also liked Brother Liu very much. But later, a policeman took a liking to Julie and repeatedly threatened Brother Liu to let her go. Brother Liu was reluctant, so the policeman threatened him with his sister-in-law's life. Brother Liu had no choice but to let Julie leave him. Later, later, I heard that Julie died later. Brother Liu was filled with guilt over Julie's death and strictly forbade us from mentioning it. More than a year ago, that policeman suddenly found Brother Liu and said that Julie was pregnant before she died, and the child in her womb belonged to Brother Liu! Since he had already 'given her up,' yet they were still secretly together, it was disrespectful to him! Brother Liu said that since Julie was dead, nothing mattered anymore! But the policeman felt he had been 'cuckolded' and demanded an explanation from Brother Liu! He then used his sister-in-law's life as a threat. The other party's influence was too great, and Brother Liu was both scared and guilty. So, he recognized Chen Nairong, who came to mediate, as his elder brother and started dealing drugs. Recently, he was even 'ordered' to report Su Xia as a 'corrupt official'..."
Recalling what the Monk had said, because a "policeman" was involved, Ping An had not revealed the Monk's words at the time. Now, he could deduce that Liu Qiao was Julie, and the one who avenged Julie must be Liu Juan. But how could Liu Juan, a woman, command a policeman? How did Liu Qiao die? Gao Min treated Liu Juan badly, killing her so easily. Could it be...
"Auntie, is Liu Qiao buried in our village?" Ping An suddenly asked.
"Yes, she's buried in the back mountain! Oh, speaking of which, I do remember that in the years since Qiao'er died, besides Liu Juan, other men have come to pay respects at her grave. I heard he was a high-ranking official..." the old woman said.
At the same time, in a rather inconspicuous mobile repair shop in Hechuan City, a tech-savvy guy named Mugua successfully unlocked a mobile phone. Without time to show off his skills, he quickly made a phone call.
"Anzi! The phone is unlocked! What's up, when are you coming back? By the way, do you dare to come back? There are armed police all over the streets these days, all looking for you!" Mugua said.
"Can I come back? You come out here to Hedong. When you get here, I'll go find you. Remember to bring the phone!" Ping An said impatiently.
"Then the price will have to be doubled!" Mugua said with ill intent.
It turned out that Mugua was Ping An's college classmate. They lived in the same dormitory, and after many years as classmates, they had become brothers.
After hanging up the phone, Mugua quickly closed the shop, tidied up a bit, went out, and drove away in a hurry. He didn't notice a dark figure watching his shop. Seeing him drive away in a hurry, the dark figure didn't chase him immediately. Instead, he took out his mobile phone and dialed "110."
"Hello, is this 110? I'm a concerned citizen reporting something…" the dark figure said slowly through a voice changer.
Inside the Hechuan City Public Security Bureau, the case analysis meeting was still in progress.
"Report, there's new intelligence. A concerned citizen called to say that Yang Tao, the owner of Mugua Used Mobile Phone Shop on Nantong Avenue in Heshui District, nicknamed Mugua, is a college classmate of the criminal suspect Ping An. Previously, this concerned citizen inadvertently discovered that Ping An had instructed someone to steal a mobile phone from the Dehe vegetable market and then asked Mugua to unlock it. Now Mugua has suddenly driven out of the city, and it's suspected he's going to meet Ping An," a police officer suddenly interrupted the meeting and made an urgent report.
"Who is the informant?" Vice Mayor Wang, who was presiding over the meeting, asked.
"He didn't say, he just hung up the phone!" the police officer said.
"What does everyone think?" Vice Mayor Wang asked.
"It's probably a trap! If he can explain things so clearly, it's likely another attempt by Gao Min to sow discord," Xiang Wanfeng said, both angry and anxious, quickly complicating the matter.
No, I have to report this to Ping An. Xiang Wanfeng thought for a moment, took out his mobile phone, and quietly sent a text message to Ping An: "Mugua is being watched, don't meet."
After sending one text message, Xiang Wanfeng no longer paid attention to the speeches at the meeting and didn't notice a pair of eyes in the conference room staring at him as he quickly edited a second text message: "Someone is interfering, the situation has changed, act immediately, eliminate..."
"Who is Group Leader Xiang texting?" A pair of hands suddenly snatched the mobile phone that Xiang Wanfeng was editing text messages on when he wasn't paying attention.
"Group Leader Xiang is an old police officer. I don't need to tell you about the confidentiality regulations, do I?" The person who snatched the phone was none other than Yan Qing, who was sitting above Xiang Wanfeng.
It turned out that after Yan Qing returned to the bureau, he attended the case analysis meeting that day under the guise of "listening to the progress of the case." According to his rank, he was seated above Xiang Wanfeng. During the meeting, as a duty police officer suddenly interrupted, Yan Qing keenly noticed Xiang Wanfeng's nervousness and began to secretly send text messages with his hands hidden under the table.
The text message was halfway through editing when the phone was snatched. Xiang Wanfeng was bewildered. When he realized the seriousness of the problem, Yan Qing read out the partially edited text message in front of everyone: "Someone is interfering, the situation has changed, act immediately, eliminate..."
"Group Leader Xiang, did you arrange an operation today? You didn't, did you? Then what does this text message mean? Eliminate? Eliminate whom? Ping An?" Yan Qing narrowed his eyes and asked carefully.
At this moment, with the phone in someone else's hand, Xiang Wanfeng considered snatching it back, but in full view of everyone, it was impossible to do so.
"Oh, my, it turns out Group Leader Xiang has been in contact with Ping An all along!" Yan Qing kept pressing the phone screen, fearing that the phone would suddenly lock. Accidentally, he clicked on the previous text message.
"Mugua is being watched, don't meet," Yan Qing slowly read out the text message, and the attendees in the room quickly began to murmur.
"This is tipping off!"
"Yes, could it be that Group Leader Xiang?"
"The leader of the special task force is actually the enemy? My God, no wonder this case has been led by the nose everywhere."
"Fortunately, Director Yan Qing returned in time, otherwise!"
Vice Mayor Wang looked at Xiang Wanfeng, who was sitting silently, and then took the phone from Yan Qing's hand and slowly read it.
"Xiang Wanfeng, do you have anything else to say?" Vice Mayor Wang asked after reading for a long time. Besides the denunciation, he could not think of any other reason.
"I have nothing to say," Xiang Wanfeng said after careful consideration, letting out a deep sigh and saying dejectedly.
"I can understand that you maintain communication with Ping An due to the legitimate need for solving the case, especially now that the chain of evidence proving Ping An's crime is nonexistent," Vice Mayor Wang said sternly. "But what I don't understand is, you secretly launched a large-scale manhunt without my knowledge or consent, and the target of the search was Ping An! If you had a plan to cooperate with Ping An to solve the case, why would you cause trouble for him? And what does 'eliminate' mean here?"
"Let me speak for Group Leader Xiang!" Yan Qing said after looking at Xiang Wanfeng. "We had almost solved this series of cases, but we kept going back and forth around Mr. Su Xia, interrogating and releasing, releasing and interrogating. Who was obstructing the investigation by using Su Xia? I think after the final review of Su Xia, the order to allow her release was not signed by you, Xiang Wanfeng! Then, Su Xia dragged Ping An into the warehouse trap you had set up long ago. Su Xia, who knew a lot, died, and yet they wanted to frame Ping An! You are affecting the direction of the case and playing Ping An in the palm of your hand. You launched a large-scale manhunt, scattering all your forces, giving Gao Min the opportunity to 'mend his ways.' All this was done to allow the 1,400 kilograms of drugs to be transferred smoothly!"
Yan Qing's words left everyone present stunned!
Although Yan Qing's words seemed to lack evidence, they perfectly matched the current case. Could it be that Xiang Wanfeng was the mastermind?
"Ever since you asked me to be in charge of the entire case, I've always felt something was wrong with you. You were supposed to solve a clear-cut case, but instead, you had to provoke Ping An to do impulsive things by bringing up Mr. Ke, who was completely irrelevant. After Ping An fell into your trap! He became a scapegoat, and then you planned to eliminate him! You turned a simple drug trafficking case, where the suspect was known, into an arrest operation, but why did you have to drag Mr. Ke into it? If it weren't for you provoking Su Xia's daughter by using Mr. Ke, would Su Xia and Ping An have been forced into this situation? How did Gao Min prepare in advance? Who was the informant? Was Su Xia, who was constantly with Ping An, reporting the situation according to your instructions? It's pathetic that Su Xia only realized your cruel heart at the moment of her death!"
Heart assassination, murder.
Yan Qing's words made the listeners break out in a cold sweat. Xiang Wanfeng, however, remained silent, with his eyes closed, sitting there.
"Guards! Lock Xiang Wanfeng in the confinement room! Notify the provincial department! We'll see what can be done!" Vice Mayor Wang said. "Gao Xiaofei, you take action immediately. Follow that Yang Tao, or Mugua, and see if you can meet Ping An. Bring Ping An back. This farce needs to end!"
"Old Yan, since you're back, this case will be your full responsibility!"
"Let me call Ping An first!" Yan Qing said, holding up the mobile phone he had just confiscated from Xiang Wanfeng.